Yu Yao kept deliberately choosing paths with fewer zombies. Although it meant taking many detours, her gains were plentiful.
Not only did her dual knife skills become smoother and faster, but she also reached level 5.
She unlocked the lightness skill “Cloud Step.”
This is a movement skill usable by all professions.
Yu Yao tried it out. While she couldn’t fly or burrow underground, she could easily run along eaves, jump walls, and climb buildings.
Moreover, her movement speed improved significantly.
With this skill, she could maneuver much more freely through zombie crowds.
“Miss, miss, help me! Don’t go! I’ll pay you!”
This was the 15th time Yu Yao had heard a human begging for help.
Many people hadn’t yet adapted to the apocalypse’s cruelty and only dared to quietly watch from their homes.
When they saw Yu Yao killing zombies like slicing melons through windows, they often wished she’d protect them.
Yu Yao ignored all these cries and focused solely on killing zombies nearby.
Kill them, then leave — the further away from these shouting fools, the better.
Someone, seeing Yu Yao’s indifference, shouted louder, “Hey! Did you hear me? I won’t let you save me for free. One million, how about one million?”
Yu Yao snorted.
One million might have been a fortune before the apocalypse.
But now it was just useless numbers and worthless paper.
She’d be crazy to take along some fool just for a bit of money.
Hadn’t he noticed that nearby zombies were now drawn by his shouting?
Seeing Yu Yao still ignore him and walk farther away, many others watching also panicked, calling for her help.
But all they got in response was a slender yet cold back.
All sorts of pitiful pleas and vicious curses flew into her ears, and some even threw objects at her.
Though she dodged them, her patience was gone.
She activated Cloud Step and quickly left.
The gathering zombies grew in number until all traces of Yu Yao’s presence were swallowed up, as if she had never been there.
With Cloud Step’s boost, Yu Yao reached the outskirts of the villa district within a few hours.
Most villas there were detached houses with yards, and there were few zombies or humans inside — Yu Yao was very pleased.
She specifically searched for a vacant villa with a large yard.
Using Cloud Step, she climbed over the wall into the yard, then broke in through the door and hid inside.
She thoroughly inspected the villa and, seeing only basic renovations with no signs of human life, finally relaxed.
She went to the bathroom, filled a tub with water, and took a quick cold shower.
She had killed zombies most of the day, their stinky black blood splattered all over her.
Although her clothes from the system’s shop had an auto-clean feature, and she’d worn a hat and mask all day, she still felt foul.
After washing, she changed into clean clothes.
Rubbing her hungry but meat-averse stomach, she quietly took out a serving of braised eggplant and oyster sauce lettuce and ate with rice.
Unexpectedly, before she finished, a large cluster of red dots suddenly appeared on the map.
Some of the villa district’s original red dots also started converging toward that direction.
Curious, Yu Yao looked carefully and quickly saw a faint blue dot moving in front of the red dots.
The blue dot flickered between strong and weak, shifting from blue to purple, then red.
Clearly, this was a human injured by zombies, repeatedly flipping between awakening powers and turning into a zombie!
Yu Yao stared at the constantly changing blue dot and took a bite of rice.
She silently sighed — this person must be skilled, or else they couldn’t have led such a large group of zombies on a prolonged chase while injured.
Moreover, some red dots disappeared around that person, obviously killed by them.
Impressive.
She ate a few more bites and began thinking about how long she herself could hold out in that situation.
Before she could come up with an answer, her expression grew serious.
Then she heard the sound of a heavy object falling and a muffled groan near the villa’s outer wall.
Yu Yao clicked her tongue.
What the heck! Why not hide somewhere else? Why come here?
She darkened her face, put away the unfinished food, and went to the window to see who had come.
It was a woman — with a neat short haircut, dressed in a black one-piece combat suit, strikingly beautiful yet sharp and capable.
Unfortunately, her pale lips and faintly bluish complexion greatly diminished her appearance.
Yu Yao expressionlessly watched as the woman looked bitterly at her wet left arm.
Then the woman drew a gun from her waist, closed her eyes, and aimed at her temple.
Seeing this, Yu Yao couldn’t help but frown as she looked at the light dot on her mini-map.
It flickered between purple and red, completely beyond the scope of ordinary humans.
A person with blood and spirit — it was a pity to see her die like this.
Luo Mei felt the increasingly uncontrollable violent energy within her body, growing more and more desperate.
As expected, someone like her simply couldn’t be a good person. She barely managed to save one person, yet had pushed herself into such a predicament.
“Heh…”
She gave a bitter laugh, her finger trembling more on the trigger.
She wasn’t afraid to die, but she couldn’t bear to leave her brother, or her comrades.
But she absolutely didn’t want to become that disgusting thing!
Never!
With this thought, a ruthless look flashed across her face, her finger gradually pressing down, about to pull the trigger.
At that moment, the sound of a door opening reached her ears, followed by the girl’s clear, gentle whisper:
“It’s not the final moment yet — are you going to give up now?”
Luo Mei opened her slightly pale eyes and saw a beautiful face she would never forget.
A small, delicate vermilion birthmark between her brows, calm peach blossom-shaped eyes gazing steadily at her.
Completely different from the fearful, disgusted, and malicious eyes she had encountered before.
Luo Mei’s lips twitched faintly, her voice hoarse:
“But… that thing is really ugly. I… don’t want to become like that.”
Yu Yao raised an eyebrow, her voice laced with temptation:
“I’ve read some novels that say those infected with the zombie virus might awaken powers. Don’t you want to try?”
Upon hearing this, Luo Mei’s dim, clouded eyes slowly brightened.
After a moment, she moved her arm with difficulty, slowly pointing the gun at Yu Yao.
Then with a flick of her finger, she turned the gun so the grip faced Yu Yao.
“If I can’t hold on, kill me… use my gun.”
“Alright.”
Taking Luo Mei’s gun, Yu Yao helped her into the house.
She felt confident because the light dot belonging to Luo Mei lingered longer in purple — a strong sign that she was about to awaken powers.
Luo Mei’s forehead was burning hot.
Yu Yao placed her on the sofa, then went to the bathroom.
From her space, she took a basin, towel, and clean water, and applied a cold compress to Luo Mei’s forehead.
Although it wouldn’t reduce the fever, at least it would bring some relief.
Luo Mei, nearly unconscious, lifted her pale lips and softly said, “My name is Luo Mei — Luo, like Luo Binwang; Mei, like rose. It’s my real name.”
Yu Yao nodded without looking up, taking out a first aid kit to tend to Luo Mei’s arm wounds.
“My name is Yu Yao — Yu, like the hibiscus flower; Yao, like the Jade Pool. That’s my real name too.”
Luo Mei smiled softly, her eyes growing darker and clearer.
“So beautiful. If only…”
But she fell asleep before finishing her sentence.
Yu Yao glanced at her calmly, hands still busy dressing the wounds.
Once Luo Mei was settled, Yu Yao took up her dual knives and left the villa.
Luo Mei had attracted too many zombies.
They seemed to have locked onto her scent and refused to disperse.
Instead, more zombies were drawn in, and if Yu Yao didn’t clear them quickly, it could soon turn into a horde.
That would be a big problem!